David Wotherspoon is back at his best, says Hibs boss

DAVID HARDIE

Hibs boss Pat Fenlon believes midfield star David Wotherspoon is back at the top of his game after suffering a crisis of confidence.

Wotherspoon claimed his first goal of the season with a spectacular strike against Inverness Caley but that, claimed Fenlon, simply capped a superb performance from the 22-year-old.

Although Wotherspoon shot to fame when stepping from the Easter Road club’s Under-19 side to score on his first-team debut against St Mirren before going on to make more than 120 appearances in a green and white shirt, he’d become something of a peripheral figure towards the end of last season, starting just two matches from mid-February and unable to command even a seat on the bench for the Scottish Cup final.

Now, though, Wotherspoon has begun all of Hibs’ SPL matches this season as Fenlon’s players have soared to second in the table and the Irishman admits he’s delighted in the transformation.

He said: “When I came in initially I watched a fair bit of stuff of David on DVDs and I spoke to people about him. Obviously he has real ability, real talent but he was low in confidence and we tried to work on that.

“He worked really hard in pre-season and I think you can see the confidence has come back in to him. Against Inverness his passing was assured. He can ping the ball around the pitch and that’s something he probably hasn’t done enough of. It was a fantastic strike against Inverness and I was delighted for him, but his overall performance was very, very good.”

Meanwhile, Hibs will face Fort William in the third round of the Scottish Youth Cup with the match taking place at the club’s East Mains Training Centre on Sunday, October 21 (kick-off 2pm).